carpenter ants on the job site

[Mike Teskey]

Greetings,

In the process of building my builder's cabin on the Oregon coast, I noticed that even though I stacked my construction lumber on concrete piers with p.t. lumber below that carpenter ants are on the wood.  

Before I order wood for the real house, what should I do for: 1. the stacking of wood prior to using. 2; wood  once it is framed, and 3. the area around the cabin?  Once I see them, does it mean they are already in the wood?

Thanks,
mt

[John Raabe]

I don't have any specific advice or experience but here is a link to explore:
http://tinyurl.com/8s5u5

[glenn kangiser]

My wife got, (she thinks at Home Depot) some stuff that claims to kill carpenter ants and 14 other species.  Add mice to that- after I applied it we saw a few dead mice that we think took the ant bait.   The ants we had a problem with disappeared also.

Obviously this is potent stuff so follow directions.

It is called Amdro Ant Block.  Worker ants carry it to their nest, feed it to the queen and kill out the colony.  Seeing the reaction of the mice, I would make sure to keep it away from food crops as they warn.

Get it soon as there is a rumor that the Carpenter Ants Union Local #7734 is going to file a grievance.

[ketdryn]

I once lived in an apartment building that had a terrible ant problem in the summer months.  As I had pets, using poison inside wasn't an option.  Knowing that ants are a social species, I decided to try an unusual approach.  Whenever an ant entered my partment through the patio door or window, I killed it and placed its body back out on the window sill or at the edge of the patio.  Very soon I had the perimeter lined with ant corpses.  Within a matter of days, I ceased to have an ant problem even though the rest of the building did.  Weird, but it worked...and no grievance was filed against me.